#mhasara

[mental-health-advice]

Submission about Depression and Paranoia

This submission accidentally got deleted while in the process of publishing the answer. Below is a summary of what it was roughly about. The answer was written while we did still have the submission, so it includes any details that we might not have remembered to put in the summary.

The submission was about someone that was suffering with depression, paranoia, and social anxiety. Their mother didn't believe in them, told them they were lying. They wanted to seek therapy but their mother basically didn't believe they had a problem. They didn't know what to do.

Hi there and thank you for reaching out to us in the first place! 

I'm sorry that your mother doesn't seem to understand your struggles and even tells you that you are lying about them! I'm truly sorry for this! I don't think she's right in what she said, if you are struggling with something then it's true. But sadly some people think that mental ilnesses in general are fake or all in our mind, or that they don't even exist. They do exist, they are real and we can struggle everyday because of them. 

I think maybe your mother said that to you because she don't have enough knowledge about anxiety and depression (or about other issues), so maybe that's why she dismissed your feelings. Could you try to educate her a bit and see if this works? Maybe showing her videos about depression (just to mention one) could be helpful. You can easiy find a lot of videos on youtube about various mental health issues. Try to do a research on youtube, try to find videos that talks about your issues or what you think you have, and show them to her.

If it's not enough, if she still thinks that you are lying, try to find other people you could talk to. For example, other family members that are more comprehensive, or even people outside your family at this point, such as friends, acquaintances you trust, teachers, mentors....people you see that you feel like are open minded and that will accept you as you are! 

Then I also think you can go to your doctor on your own without your mother. If you need help, you need it. You need to talk with someone about your suffering. You don't deserve to suffer like this, you deserve attention, you deserve someone that listens to you! You could call your doctor and schedule an appointment with them. You could tell them "I think I'm struggling with" then you list all of your symptoms, or you could start talking about your emotions and that you need to see a therapist as soon as possible. They will asses you, ask you questions about your health (both physical and mental), and they can make a referral to a therapist (or other mental health professionals) that can help you more! We have a page that talks about how to get help here! 

I really hope you will be able to get help and see someone, like a therapist, or other professionals! You really deserve to get better and start working on your issues! I don't know if your mother will understand you. But even if she won't, you are never alone! You can count on us anytime you want and need, so feel free to reach out to us if you need more help! Lots of love, Sara